Friday, June 30, 2006

First Picnic

Bike riding k's are far behind last year's numbers, but when weather permits we are out on the bikes exploring interesting spots in our new corner of the province. We have a nice 20k trail without hills that we really enjoy, but look forward to venturing further afield once our leg muscles built up a bit of strength.

Last week we felt we were ready so we set off for Almonte, a 30k round trip. It was a great ride and there was even a Tim's at the turn-around point of the route, so we had fresh hot coffee with our picnic lunch in this delightful little park in the centre of town. Delicious!



We took a pleasant country-back-roads route and enjoyed wildflowers, birdsongs and picturesque scenery all along the way. Oh so pretty.



It reminded me of the country roads of Lambton County, with one major difference - hills! Oh yes, we have lots more hills here and that makes our rides a bit more of a challenge I must say. I have a GPS on my bike, so I can keep track of elevation, speed, and direction when we ride. We start off at home at about 120 metres above sea level and are up and down hills between that and 160m all along the route. One hill just outside this park at the start of our route home goes from 104 m to 158m. Needless to say I have to walk to the top of this hill. My knees just can't take the hill cold after our lunch break. Once at the top it is clear sailing all the way home though. We go up and down grades between 130m and 140m, and they aren't too hard to deal with at all. Whew!

It looks like we are going to have lots of rain this weekend. Sigh! Company arrives tonight for the long weekend festivities, so the pace will pick up speed around here again but the bikes and computers will rest.

Hope you enjoy your long weekend. We plan to celebrate Canada's birthday in style.

Talk to you all next week.

10 comments:

karla said...

Happy Canada Day weekend Cuppa!

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the rain holds out. It's been years since I've seen fireworks and I'm hoping to see some this weekend.

Enjoy your weekend.

Heather Plett said...

We've had hardly any rain this spring - AMAZING biking weather. I guess we're making up for a soggy year last year.

Like I said to AC - you should come ride with me - it's pretty tough to find a hill out here on the prairies!

Granny said...

I will hum a verse of O Canada in your honor.

Have a great time.

methatiam said...

Oh! So green!

I only bicycle indoors these days.

Happy Bday Canada.

Gina said...

I am so stupid I was not even aware that Canada Day and 4th of July even remotely coincided.

Have fun!

luna pie said...

HOORAH for biking! :)

Melodee said...

Beautiful pictures! I really want to start biking again one day. My day will come!

Judy said...

what a beautiful site! Great photographs too! Makes me want to be there!

methatiam said...

Pardon me, but I was just passing by and couldn’t help but notice the cobwebs, old newspapers and dust that have gathered where one of my favorite BLOGS used to be.

Cuppa said...

Hi methatiam
Thanks for letting me know that I have been missed. Neeless to say, I took the summer off and the old laptop has been gathering dust while I have been out playing in the sunshine.
I will get the neglected broom out and clean the place up soon.
Oh, the sun is shining, gotta go! Talk to you later.